These Chaco shoes aren’t the lightest ones around, but they look good and feel good all day long.
Last week I got an interesting study in contrasts when I wore dress shoes for two days at a trade show I was attending. I seldom wear dress shoes and forgot how worn out your feet get with them on all day. When I was able to slip them off later and change into these Chaco Tedinho Low shoes, my feet were saying “Thank you!”
Before that I’d been wearing these around town for a couple months, taking them on two-mile walks on sidewalks of my neighborhood. They took no time at all to break in and apparently the “LUVSEAT XO3 platform” is more than just a fancy marketing term as they molded well to my feet and got even more comfy over time. I also like the way the laces are designed as I could really make these conform to my feet without slipping, yet the soft cuff around the ankle keeps them from being too tight.
After all the synthetic travel shoes we try out here on a regular basis, it’s nice to get back to real leather now and then and I like the looks of these. Sure, they won’t breathe as well as a Gore-tex pair if you’re hiking around Norway and expect your sweaty feet to breathe better. But I was headed to muggy Cartagena, Colombia, so it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. (See our old post, 8 Things You Should Know About Gore-tex.)
I wore these on travel days as they’re kind of heavy, packing the dress shoes and my super-light New Balance newSky sneakers in my suitcase. Unlike a lot of lightweight shoes though, these Chaco ones feel built to last, with some serious cushioning between my feet and the ground. Any hey, 25% of the rubber used is recycled.
These have a street-smart look to them, but the tread on the bottom makes them grippy enough for some light hiking with rock-hopping as well. There are only a few pairs of shoes in my closet that I feel like I could wear for 10 hours straight in any conditions. These rugged but super-comfortable Chaco Tedinho ones are at the top of the list. They come in two colors and a multitude of sizes, with a high-top version available also. This low version has a list price of $135.
See more details at the Chaco website and pick up a pair at Zappos or Planet Shoes.
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